Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Mom Inspired Driving Tips #Esurance

As a mom, we tend to take on the title of shofer on top of personal assistant, cook, house keeper as well as many more. During our busy days, we end up driving to many destinations through out our days to complete our daily tasks. I know that when I have the kids loaded up and I am taking them with me on those busy days, there are so many things that can happen in the car to distract you, as a mom, from the road. We want to be safe drivers when we are toting our crews around, but when you have constant screams, some one constantly saying "Mom", or kids doing things they should not be doing when you look in the mirror at them, we become more prone to getting into a accident since our attention is not on the road ahead. I think that in order to make things safer and the daily commutes less stressful, moms should not only have their house rules, but there should be rules in the car. Kids tend to think that since mom is driving, she cant put me in time out while we are running errands, and she cant stop everything to redirect me, the thing is, kids are right. We cant put them in time out while we are driving down the highway, we can threaten them in the car, but kids know that we are not going to be able to put them in time out for a while, then by the time we have finished running our errands, we might even forget that time out we threatened them with on the road. We moms have many tricks up our sleeves, and in order to keep the order in the car, there need to be rules set that apply every time we get in the car.
Why not make a rules chart for the car, just like the one we put up in the house, but instead of house rules, make them car rules. You may be thinking, where would I put this rule chart so that my kids see it every time they get in the car, right? Well tape it to the back of the passenger seat. Or if you dont want to tape it up, keep one handy in your glove compartment, so you can easily pull it out when you get everyone in the car and remind them of the rules until they understand that your mean business.
When the kids start acting up in the car, instead of putting on the dvd or their favorite music to get them to be calm, turn everything off and ride in silence for a few minutes, until you feel that they get your drift. This also makes it for a safer trip for you as the driver as well, the less distractions in the car, the more attention you have to put on the road.
Let them earn the rewards, just like you do at home. So instead of giving your kids those suckers from the bank, make them earn the suckers. They can earn the suckers by behaving while you are out, and what I do, not just one person has to behave, every one in the car must behave in order to earn that sucker.
Another reward that your kids can earn is a movie on the DVD player, but use the head phones, so you are not distracted by the noise of the movie. Have your kids take turns who gets to choose the good behavior movie in the car, that way every one gets a chance. Also let them know, that if they dont like the movie then they dont have to watch it and you do not want to hear how much they dont like the movie, because they will get their turn at choosing a movie as well, if they can be respectful and behave.
I think that one of the things that I love doing when we end up having a day where we are spending the majority of the time in the car, I like to get those fun travel games. There are rules with the travel games as well, we are to be appropriate, no fighting and stay in your seat belt!! Kids need to know that in order for every one to stay safe in the car, they have to be safe as well, and that starts with putting seat belts on and keeping them on until we are stopped and getting out.
On top of these tips for safer trips when driving with your kids, remember that you are the boss, and when the kids are really trying to push it with you. Pull over, show them that you can pull over and deal with them anytime anywhere. I think that when I threaten to pull over with my kids, they see it as a false threat, but when I follow through with that threat, I end up with angels in my car for the rest of the day. I think that pulling over and dealing with ornery kids, is better than trying to deal with them while driving and putting your attention on them instead of the road.
We as parents have a obligation to keep our children safe, and on top of no texting while driving and no talking on the phone, we can keep our kids under control so we can all have a very safe and enjoyable trip every time we get in the car together!

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Esurance blogging program for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” (make sure you link tohttp://esurance.socialmoms.com/about)

5
comments:

Great tips on managing your car rides and having them free of distractions! I really like the idea of giving rewards for good behavior during car rides when many times it often comes to threats of punishment for bad behavior. It is so important to concentrate on driving so that we ensure the safety of ourselves and our kids! Thanks!

What great tips! "When the kids start acting up in the car, instead of putting on the dvd or their favorite music to get them to be calm, turn everything off and ride in silence for a few minutes..." best tip!

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I am the wife of a former Marine and the mother of 3 beautiful kids. We live in the Seattle Washington area. I am a stay at home mommy during the day and a blogger in the evenings. I have a beautiful daughter named Estrella, a handsome little boy named Robert, and a adorable baby boy named Wyatt. I love to blog and share amazing product reviews with my readers!